Sometimes
by Invited-Gatecrasher
Summary: In the week following the murder of Bob Sheldon things are tough for everyone, including the outcasts of The Outsiders, Sandy and Sylvia.  The two girls have their own stories to tell. Long one-shot.


It had just passed nightfall and a cool breeze was sweeping through the east side of Tulsa. It would have been a really nice night, but there was an eerie vibe around the neighbourhood; no one was out on the streets, no one was making much noise. It was unnatural for such a loud, rambunctious area.

A few nights previously, two greaser kids had killed a teen from the other side of town. It had affected an awful lot of people: those who knew the two boys were worried about where they had ran off to, those who knew the victim were hell bent on revenge, and those who knew neither party were scared to be out at night, just in case they came across either group.

And so it came that the only sound that could be heard on this Thursday evening was the sound of a young girl sobbing in a vacant lot. Alone, frightened, angry at herself. Sandy rocked slowly back and forth in a comforting way, hugging her knees to her chest. She took a deep shaky breath in an attempt to steady herself. After a few gasp-filled minutes it started to work and the tall, slender girl managed to compose herself enough to get up and leave the lot. She couldn't go home, not yet. If she went home she'd never see Tulsa again; she'd be driven to the station and put on a train.

Sandy didn't want to leave Oklahoma; everything and everyone she knew were here. But her future couldn't be. She was starting to see that now. She flinched when she remembered the look on Soda's face, the sheer devastation and heartache. She couldn't see that face every day, it would kill her. She had just told him she was pregnant, and that he wasn't the father of her child. Then he proposed to her and said he'd raise the child as his own, and she had told him she was leaving the state. All this just days after his brother been involved in a murder and fled town! Sodapop had literally upped and ran away from Sandy mid conversation, sobbing in spite of any pride he may have had. She had broken him, and she had to deal with that.

She walked for a mile or so as the world around her got darker and colder. The garish lights of the Dairy Queen beamed ahead of her, and she entered the almost empty diner and slipped into a booth in the corner, hoping no one could notice her there.

'Pregnant', she thought to herself, for what might be the thousandth time that day. She thought if she just kept saying it to herself it would eventually sink in. It hadn't yet, and she'd been saying it to herself for over a week. The whole thing felt like it was happening to someone else; Sandy couldn't quite work out how this had all happened to her. Pregnant by a man she didn't love and being sent to Florida by parents who were too ashamed to stand by her.

The bell above the door of the diner jingled, letting people know someone had walked in. '_She's_ the sort this should happen to' Sandy thought bitterly, noticing who had entered. Sylvia looked around the burger joint and at last settled on Sandy, who she approached.

"Can I sit here?" she asked with a weak smile. It was odd; she looked half scared of Sandy.

The last thing Sandy wanted was company but she was never one to be overtly rude, "Sure, pull up a pew."

They exchanged pleasantries and discussed the trouble Ponyboy and Johnny had gotten into. Sylvia asked how Sodapop was handling his brother running away, Sandy had to answer honestly that she didn't know; she hadn't even thought to ask him since the day after it happened. She fell into a guilty gulf, looking out the window at the stars in the sky.

The girls sat in an awkward silence, until Sylvia looked straight at Sandy, "You've been crying." It was a statement rather than a question, so Sandy didn't feel the need to say anything in return. A waitress came over and asked what the girls wanted to order. Sandy pulled her purse from her jeans pocket and began counting out her coins.

"Can we have fries between us and two Pepsis." Sylvia said, adding after the waitress had left, "My treat."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Sandy asked as she put her money back in her purse.

"Does no one think I'm capable of being nice?" Sylvia asked, more to herself than to Sandy.

Sandy answered anyway. "It's not that, it's just you an' me ain't that close." Although when she thought about it, she would never refer to Sylvia as nice.

"I'm not that close to nobody." Sylvia replied sadly.

Sandy looked down at the hand of the girl opposite her. She was missing the large ring that was usually on her left hand. Sandy already knew that Dally found out about Sylvia's cheating. "You and Dallas split up?" She gestured to Sylvia's fingers.

"Yeah, punk didn't like a taste of his own medicine." She said sharply.

The waitress brought their drinks over and the two girls sat in silence again, Sylvia staring into space, Sandy playing with her straw. The quiet was less uncomfortable this time; they had adjusted to each other's company. Sylvia and Sandy only knew one another because of their boyfriends, who were both in fact, now ex boyfriends. The girls had been on double dates or group outings with Soda, Dally and their gang, but had never really developed a friendship past small talk.

Sandy hadn't been able to talk to any of her close friends about what had been going on. They didn't know she'd cheated on Soda, much less that she was pregnant, single and being forced to move to Florida. Maybe Sylvia would understand; she'd been through hard times, and by the way she was acting tonight, Sandy suspected that the tough-looking greaser girl might be in need of a friend as much as she was.

"Sylvia?"

The blonde looked up, startled out of a deep thought, "Huh?"

"What made you cheat on Dally?"

Sylvia sat back in her chair, suddenly looking older than her years and sadder than a 17 year old should be able to look. She sighed, "Sometimes it just gets too much, you know? Sometimes it _does_ bother me that he can't commit, that he cheats, that he gets hauled into the cop shop more often than we've been on dates… And I know it shouldn't bother me, because it shouldn't bother _Dallas Winston's Girl_, it's like, part of the deal, practically. But sometimes… I can't help it. And I get back at him the only way that works, I attack his pride."

"What do you mean?" Sandy asked, chewing on her straw. She was entranced by this insight into another person's relationship problems – she thought she was the only one with a less than perfect relationship.

"I mean, what can you do to hurt Dallas Winston? I could break up with him… but he wouldn't care because he _doesn't_ _care_ about me. I could get my Pop to slug him, but Dal would end up beating the tar out of him. So all I can do is try to chip away at his reputation, because it's the one thing he gives a damn about. Dal ain't mad I cheated, he's mad people might think a girl would _wanna_ cheat on him; that she weren't satisfied or she liked someone better."

"I never thought of it like that." Sandy said as the waitress set their fries down between them.

Sylvia looked at Sandy, whose face was still puffy and blotchy from crying. She spoke softly, an idea dawning on her, "Has Soda cheated?"

Sandy looked down, embarrassed at the truth. "What makes you say that?"

"You've been crying, and you're asking why a person would cheat. I put two an' two together."

"And came up with five." Sandy mumbled miserably. Sylvia looked at her with a puzzled expression. "_I_ cheated." It was the first time she had said it aloud. It actually felt good to get it out there.

"Shit." Sylvia said blankly as she shoved a handful of fries into her mouth. She hadn't been blown away by the revelation, which shocked Sandy; she'd been so scared of people finding out that she had never considered people might not give a damn. "How come?" Sylvia finally asked when she'd swallowed her food.

Sandy thought for a moment. She'd never been able to answer that question when she asked herself, but having heard Sylvia talk about cheating on Dallas, she thought maybe she understood why. "I guess like you, sometimes things got too much."

"I thought you guys had it made."

"Yeah, everyone thought we were this golden couple; the gorgeous heartthrob and the innocent blue eyed girl. There was all this pressure to be the perfect couple. That was half the problem."

"And the other half of the problem?"

Sandy struggled to put her feelings into words; she knew most people would think she was crazy. "He… Soda… He's just… too… _Soda_!" Sylvia laughed, but Sandy didn't get what was supposed to be so funny. "He's such a gentleman, and he's so charming that people wouldn't believe me if I said that sometimes he was too caught up with his friends or his brothers to worry about me. And sometimes when he's so focused on fooling around or getting his end away, he won't pick up on the fact that something's bothering me… he can be really fucking selfish at times, but people see him as such a nice guy that I feel like a bitch for thinking bad of him! It makes me so angry. Like when all those girls hang around the DX… people think they're only there for Soda but they're there for him and Steve both, the difference is that Steve knows he's got a girlfriend and makes that clear. Sodapop _flirts_! Because that's just _Soda_! Oh, he says he's being polite is all..." She trailed off, the speech had taken it out of her and she felt like a broken faucet that was flooding uncontrollably. She ate a French fry and gathered her thoughts before continuing. "I spose I met a guy at a party and I had his whole attention, and I liked it… cos I ain't had a guy's complete attention for so long." She wiped away a tear hurriedly, thinking of Sodapop Curtis. He was a good man, but his family and his gang always came first. It wasn't fair that she cheated over that; he was doing a noble thing taking care of his brother and all, but she couldn't help being jealous.

Sylvia sat patiently and waited for Sandy to finish her rant. She understood what Sandy was saying. No man was without flaw, and Soda was too manic and all over the place to focus on any one thing for too long, maybe that included his girlfriend.

"No one's perfect." Sylvia said with a warm smile.

"I know, I know. He's nice most of the time…"

"No," Sylvia cut her off, "I was talking about you… you fucked up, don't beat yourself up over it. Has he found out?"

"I told him."

"That was stupid."

Sandy shook her head, "I had to. Even if I wasn't going away I would have told him."

"Going away?" Sylvia looked at her wide-eyed.

Tears fell down Sandy's cheeks, she made no sound, but the tears flowed anyway. Sylvia reached over and put her hand on top of Sandy's. It all fell into place; Sylvia put everything together and knew just how bad things were for Sandy. She felt really bad for the girl – she was a decent enough chick for the east side; there were girls a lot more slutty that hadn't been caught out like this.

"Oh honey, and here I was thinking I had problems."

Sandy sobbed as she smiled, she knew Sylvia understood everything and she was glad she hadn't walked off in disgust, which is exactly what she would have down if the tables were turned. Sandy could be quite high and mighty when she wanted to be, and she often thought herself better than the greaser girls from her neighbourhood – it was ironic that out of all of them it was her that had messed up so badly.

"I suppose while you're so shit out of luck it's safe for me to assume you don't know whose it is?"

Sandy chuckled at that, laughing properly for the first time in over a week. It was true - of all the times she were to fall pregnant, it had to be the one time in her life she'd slept with two guys around the same time!

"Well, me and Soda are always super careful, and I was pretty soused the other time, so I think it's safe to guess it ain't Sodapop's. If I thought it might not be this other guy's, I wouldn't have told Soda I cheated and I woulda married him, but I couldn't do that knowing I was lying."

Sylvia didn't understand that, she'd think of herself first and foremost and would have lied through her teeth if it gave her security.

"So where are you going?"

"Florida," Sandy spat out with distaste, "with my Grandparents, so help me Lord!"

"That sucks… Could you not, you know… _see a doctor_?" Sylvia whispered the last three words.

"Oh no, I couldn't… I wouldn't." Sandy was sure of one thing in this whole mess: she wanted to keep the baby. She put her hand on her stomach lovingly, "It's hard to be happy when all this stuff is going on, but whenever I think about being a Mom, it makes everything seem a bit better."

Sylvia couldn't think of anything worse than being a pregnant, unmarried teenager, but at least Sandy could be happy about it. Sylvia asked about the father of the baby but Sandy just shook her head and mumbled, "A cowboy of all people. Lord knows when I'd see him again, if ever. Not that I'd want to..."

The girls were silent for a while longer until Sandy tried to change the subject, she realised she's been talking about herself for a good long while. "So I'm here on my lonesome because it's my last night in Tulsa… why are you out on your own?" Sandy asked the heavily made up girl opposite her.

Sylvia laughed bitterly, "I don't have any girlfriends, and most of the time I only have one boyfriend, so without him, I'm alone by nature."

Sandy suddenly felt sorry for Sylvia. She had always thought of her as tough and independent, but tonight she saw her as any other insecure teenage girl. Sandy always took it for granted that she had friends to hang out with and nice parents to go home to at night, she'd never really thought what it would be like for girls like Sylvia, growing up in care homes and changing schools a couple of times a year. She wished she'd have spent more time getting to know her.

"It ain't so bad," Sylvia tried to sound upbeat, "Come the weekend I'll be back with Dally or meet a new guy and I'll be right as rain. Hey, you need a ride home?"

Sandy accepted the offer for a lift, Sylvia paid the check and the two girls drove back to Sandy's house as she took one last look at Tulsa passing by the window. Outside the beaten down house the two girls sat in silence once more, both thinking of how to say goodbye after an evening such as the one they just shared.

"I got you wrong." Sandy smiled. "I got you really wrong."

Sylvia nodded, "We're a lot more alike than I'd ever have guessed."

"You mean you'd never have guessed I'd sleep around!" Both girls laughed.

"Naw, that ain't what I meant. You're more human that I thought you'd be."

Sandy got out the car and bent down to the window, "Thanks so much for tonight, Sylv. I wish we'd been friends for longer, I really do."

Sylvia smiled and nodded in agreement, then asked Sandy a question that had been on her mind since they left the Dairy Queen. "Sandy, are you in love with Sodapop?"

Sandy thought for a moment, "I think I'm too young to be in love. It was good but I don't think it was love. Not for me anyhow. Do you love Dallas?"

"Oh yeah. He's the only person I could ever love, I know that deep down." She smiled as she realised it was true. She was going to work things out with Dallas, and be a much better girlfriend. Maybe in time she and Dally could settle down, get a house and have a bit of normality. It would be a first for both of them.

As Sylvia pulled away she drove home via a route that would take her past Buck's, just in case she could catch a glimpse of Dally. She stopped on the corner and saw her ex boyfriend take some car keys off the bartender and climbed into the driver's seat of a T-Bird, Buck's favourite possession.

Dallas drove away and as soon as he was far enough out of view Sylvia pulled up next to Buck, who was stood on the same spot smoking a cigarette.

"Hey Buck, where's Dally gone?"

Buck bent down to the window and smiled at Sylvia, "Hey darl'. He dint say where he was going, just said he'd be gone a few days. Reckon it's to do with those friends of his."

"Figures." Sylvia said, knowing Dallas would do anything for Johnny Cade.

"Anyway, I thought Dal weren't ya business anymore?" Buck said, cocking an eyebrow.

Sylvia smiled, "He's always my business, Buck. You know that."

She drove away thinking about how good things would be once she and Dallas Winston were back on track. Sylvia didn't know at that time, that she'd never see him alive again.


End file.
